After the suppression of "Let There Be Light" (a documentary about combat-induced post-traumatic stress disorders which presented many inconvenient and demoralizing truths), the U.S. Army Signal Corp created this dramatized up-beat remake of the film. Only this time, the production excluded the involvement of John Houston, the producer of the original documentary.

Rose Pierce is discontent with her life as the wife of a small town plumber and has visions of becoming a wealthy socialite. Consequently, when her smart aleck son Sammy hears that an electric railroad line is to be built through town, she decides that the family can become rich by purchasing the lots along the right of way. Patriarch George Pierce laughs at the idea, but when Rose and Sammy learn that Cora Stewart, the wealthy town widow, has withdrawn her savings from the bank, they jump to the conclusion that she is interested in buying the lots, and mother and son secretly invest the family bank roll in the land.

A crime spree in New York forces the police commissioner to turn to Englishman Simon Templar, who fights lawlessness and corruption through unorthodox methods. Templar sets his sights on individual crimes bosses, and after bringing down two vicious leaders through disguise and deception, discovers that there is a mastermind behind all the city's crime.